View of Goodnestone House, built by Brook Bridges in 1704. Presently owned by Margaret, The Lady Fitzwalter.
Goodnestone Park was built in 1704 by Brook Bridges who had recently purchased the estate. The date of the house is scratched onto a brick on the main front. During the early 18th century the house was surrounded by extensive formal gardens recorded in a view by William Harris. These disappeared later in the 18th century when Sir Brook Bridges, the 3rd baronet and great-grandson of the builder, replaced the gardens with a landscape park in the fashion of the time. The park and house as altered by the 3rd baronet were again recorded in a view by Arthur Devis. The 3rd baronet was responsible for two of the most significant pieces of family history for Goodnestone. He married Fanny Fowler who was a co-heiress of the ancient Norman barony of FitzWalter established in 1295 by the grandson of Robert FitzWalter who had forced King John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. Throughout the Tudor period the FitzWalters were leading courtiers and politicians and became the Earls of Sussex. The widow of the 3rd Earl of Sussex, the sister Sir Philip Sydney, founded Sydney Sussex College, Cambridge. Sir Brook Bridges and Fanny Fowler's daughter, Elizabeth, married Edward Austen, brother of the famous author Jane Austen. Edward and his young wife spent their early married life in a house on the Goodnestone estate before moving to nearby Godmersham. Elizabeth was a favourite relative for Jane Austen (her daughter Fanny later became one of Jane's favourite correspondents) and Jane was a regular guest at Goodnestone during their years there. It is significant that she began writing her first novel, Pride and Prejudice, immediately after staying at Goodnestone in 1796. The palladian house was built in 1704 by Brook Bridges, 1st Baronet. His grandson, Brook Bridges' daughter, Elizabeth, married Jane Austen's brother, and Austen visited them on the estate regularly. Goodnestone House is a Grade II* listed building, enlisted on 13 October 1952.
Size: 4064px × 2704px
Location: Goodnestone Park, Kent, CT3 1PL
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1704, austen, blue, box, brick, fitzwalter, goodnestone, grade, house, ii, jane, kent, lady, listed, margaret, palladian, park, parterre, red, terrace
